


Surviving the Human

by WingedPanther73



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:17:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3798130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingedPanther73/pseuds/WingedPanther73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theeksis tells the tale of surviving an encounter with a human, a tale that haunts him still.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Theeksis 7821 sat in the corner of the bar, his large, dark eyes shifting nervously as he nursed his drink. It was his third brew for the night, and it was barely keeping his nerves in check. This was a good night.

A Reptan stalked in, its large, scaly frame imposing as it went directly to the bartender, who pointed to the thin Gray in the corner. _Oh no. I'm going to have to remember the story again. I'm going to have to put it in words. Again._ His slight body began to tremble as memories of those events coursed through his mind, unbidden.

The chair next to him slid out. “I hear you had an encounter with them.” Theeksis nodded his oversized head, a nervous tick making his right eye begin to twitch. “I thought Grays were supposed to be calm, imperturbable scientists.”

His skin shifted to a slightly darker shade of monochrome. “We are. _It_ made me like this.”

“I want to hear the story.”

Theeksis blanched. “You'll have to get me a lot drunker. I can't deal with the memories. Not sober.”

The Reptan ordered a pitcher of brew, and Theeksis gave up, allowing his mind to go back, back to when his life was ruined.


	2. Chapter 1

“This is the trip where we make our fortune!” Captain Gith announced. Everyone on the bridge cheered, even the stoic Theeksis. “After this run, we can all retire millionaires!” They all cheered more loudly.

It was shameful for a Gray to work on a smuggling ship, but he had no knack for science. He could do the basics, of course, but he just didn't make discoveries. All he'd managed to discover were things others had already found five years ago. So he found himself working under a rock-like Gemman, masking signals and readings as they worked to slip contraband past the Galactic Patrol's nose.

He returned his attention to the sensors in front of him and saw what he'd feared. Anything that would make them that much money would attract the Patrol, and there they were. “We've got company!” he announced.

“How many?” the captain asked.

“Five patrol ships with enhanced sensor arrays. They've already spotted us. We're caught between them and the Forbidden Zone.” Theeksis found himself wondering if they wouldn't do best to surrender now. _The Forbidden Zone?_

Gith turned his attention to Flarry. She was small, furry, and able to crunch numbers faster than any super-computer. Typical of a Greedan. Her eyes were practically vibrating as she tried to look at all her screens at once. “Options, Navigator?”

Her squeaky voice held anxiety as she answered. “They've already set up barriers. Our only escape is through the Forbidden Zone.” Everyone became completely silent at those word. “There are no maps, so I don't know how many jumps it will take to get through. If we don't go soon, they'll catch us.”

No one spoke. They knew what was in there. The Primates. The beasts. Gith considered as he watched the monitors. “Do it. We're in a smuggling ship. We're fast. We'll be in and out in no time. Think of it as a shortcut to our destination.”

Flarry broke the absolute silence with a small squeak as her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment before she started typing furiously at her terminal. They jumped, their ship appearing inside the Forbidden Zone.

“Theeksis! I need a full sensor scan! Let me know the instant you see anything out there! Flarry, start working out our next jump.” The tension in Gith's voice was palpable. He was as scared as the rest of them.

“Sir, can we pause a bit. You know the calculations take it out of me.”

Gith looked to the Gray, who advised, “I'm not sensing anything. I don't think they'll follow us.” _The Galactic Patrol would never come here. They don't throw away ships like that._

Flarry curled up under her station. She was softly snoring, when a ship winked into existence behind them. Theeksis didn't recognize the markings at all, but then a hailing signal came.

“Sir, something's hailing us.”

Gith furrowed his stony brows. “What?”

“I don't know. It... It's as if three different races decided to make a ship together.” Every race had their own aesthetic for ship design. They didn't work together. It was impossible! But there it was.

“Accept the channel.”

When the com screen came to life, three of the crew on the bridge fainted. Smooth, pinkish skin, with a bunch of dark hair on top of its head and blue eyes gazed back at them. Jigal, the Jafarian _,_ barely whispered, “Primate.” She was trembling in stark terror.

Jigal had reason to be afraid. The Jafarians had sent envoys to the Primates to negotiate peaceful relations. The brutish Primates had raped them to death. The Primates had raped every Jafarian they had ever encountered.

It addressed them in flawless Galactan. “This is Captain John Harkness of the Human Sector Ship Wallbreaker. You have cargo that belongs to me. I demand you turn it over immediately.” Jigal hit the floor.

_We stole a Primate's goods? No wonder it's so valuable, but what did we take? It must be a powerful weapon._

“Shut down the link! Flarry, get us out of here. NOW!” Gith shouted, fear threading through his voice.

Flarry took one look at the fading image on the com screen, and her eyes rolled back in her head. The ship jumped, but before they could react, her eyes were back in her skull again. The ship jumped a second time, then a third before she passed out, her arms twitching slightly.

“Everybody! I need you preparing this ship! We don't know what kind of technology that Primate has, but we do NOT want it firing on us! Am I clear?”

“Yes, Sir!” they replied. Theeksis glued his eyes to the sensors. He knew how important it was that they be ready if the human, by some miracle, found them. It should be impossible, of course. Nobody could follow a Greedan through three jumps, not even another Greedan. Yet, there were rumors about the Primates....

Gith strode around the bridge, reviving the crew members who had passed out. Theeksis couldn't afford to pay attention to them. His eyes were glued to the readouts. They were well within Primate space, now. They weren't even half way through. Even if they'd lost Harkness, there could be others.

As his eyes flitted over the various readouts, his mind recalled the stories from the early contacts. The Primates had somehow stolen and replicated a Gray saucer. Soon after that, there were reports of various ships found drifting in space, their crews dead, the ships cannibalized of any interesting technologies.

Then the survivors had started to appear. Not often, but they told of war suits. Cruel tortures. And the ships... they had ships that resembled anything and everything. They made no sense, when sensor logs could be analyzed. Ram drives pointed backwards. Laser engines on joints. Eventually, Primate space was zoned off as the Forbidden Zone. And it was slowly expanding.

Flarry was just waking up when Theeksis got a sensor reading, followed immediately by a hailing signal. “Gith, Sir? It's hailing us. I think it's the same ship.”

Gith rubbed his large hand over his head. “Open the channel.”

“This is Captain John Harkness. I will not stop following you. I will hunt you out of Human Space if necessary, but you will turn over your cargo.”

Captain Gith slammed off the com channel and bellowed at Flarry, “Get us out of here!”

Somehow, she managed five jumps before she collapsed. Her body was trembling, and there was a line of drool going down her cheek. She hadn't passed out this time. Her eyes kept twitching around the room.

The Greedan told stories of their ships being stalked by the Primates. Theeksis was beginning to believe it. He could suddenly understand their tales of Greedan crews exhausting themselves running from Primate ships, until they were boarded and casually killed.

Theeksis was staring at the sensors again. He'd been focused on them for an hour, now, his eyes flitting over them non-stop. His neck was stiff. The tension in his body was rising. As the second hour closed in, darkness was starting to chase the edges of his vision. “Sir, I need a break.”

“No breaks until we get out of here! Am I clear?”

There was a soft, three-toned stream of sound coming from Flarry as her eyes continued to twitch. She had been strapped into her seat, but her mind had clearly checked out.

The blackness consumed Theeksis' vision for a moment. When it came back, it was to the sound of anchors on their hull. He had passed out!

“Theeksis....” Captain Gith growled.

“Yes, Sir?” Terror began to spark his mind again, pushing him back awake, despite the exhaustion threatening to drag him under again.

“You and Gargal are with me.” Gargal was their muscle. A large Reptan with a mean streak. Reptans had tried to invade the Primate home world, once. No one knew how, but every single Reptan had been sent back... in pieces. They'd been torn limb from limb.

The three of them went to the air lock. As they were walking, they heard noise. Something was walking on their outer hull. _How can something walk on the OUTSIDE of a ship?_ Dread filled him as the echoing, metallic footsteps plodded along ahead of them, and could then be heard entering the air lock.

They arrived as it cycled open. Inside, a massive, metal suit was standing motionless. It looked somewhat like a Primate, with a reflective visor, two arms, and two legs. “Greetings. I'm here for your cargo.” It held out one of its hands.

Gargal grabbed it to attempt a throw, but the hand clenched. Theeksis heard a sound he hoped to never hear again: the screeches of a Reptan in agony. There was green blood dripping on the floor from the stump of his arm.

They heard the Primate's voice say something in its own language, before it stated, “Your cargo.”

Gith charged. Gemmans were known for being hot-headed. The Primate took a hit, then punched Gith, who stopped abruptly. Theeksis was confused until he saw Gith's chest. There was a crater in it, and gray fluid was leaking out. His body collapsed.

The Primate pushed Gith over, and stepped forward. There was a horrifying  _thump_ , followed by a cracking noise. The Primate's boots had severed Gith's leg. Somehow. It made no sense. “Your cargo.”

Theeksis' survival instinct took over. He became completely obedient as he lead the monster to their cargo hold. The beast was muttering to itself the whole way and continued to do so when it took a cryo-unit. “How did you stalk us for so long?” he finally asked, as the beast strode out of the cargo bay.

“What are you talking about? I was only on my second cup of coffee. I was just starting on a cup of... Gray Nobility.”

_They brew Grays? The make us into a drink?_ Theeksis fainted.

He never knew how they got out of the Forbidden Zone. His nerves were never the same. He couldn't concentrate. When he did, he thought of a cup of Gray Nobility. Somehow, the Primates had stolen Gray royalty and were... consuming them. Then there was the beast it had retrieved....


	3. Chapter 2

John found himself grumbling in frustration. Once again, he had fought with Larissa. Once again, she had taken the boat to the nearest bar. Once again, she had not returned when she said she would. Once again, he was running to the bar to fetch her so they could get back to work, mining space junk.

Except this time, the nearest bar was in the no man's land on the edge of human space. This time, the bar was full of aliens. This time, Larissa wasn't there when he showed up.

She'd gotten drunk, as usual. No problem, except she was a bit of a mean drunk, and aliens tend to be a bit... fragile. She punched an Aglorian in the nose, and the stupid thing had died of shock when its nose broke. Fragile. Well, the Aglorian had friends who wanted to be compensated, and Larissa had already blown her wad. So they drugged her and sold her as a “research specimen” to some Gray outfit.

“Damned bitch causes me more headaches. Now I have to go find the smugglers that have her and get her back,” he muttered to himself for the seventieth time. He'd killed a few more aliens getting the information he needed, quite by accident.

Who knew a broken finger could be fatal? But he wasn't drinking, so he was fairly safe. His standard-issue healing nanites were stitching up the laser wound in his arm already. The guy behind him had died from that shot. Fragile.

Once he found the dock the smugglers had left from, it was easy enough to trace the energy signature to the jump point. That, and the Galactic Police were more interested in helping him out than arguing about why he was there. He'd pointed a couple drills at them and said something about them being, “Andorian blast cannons,” and they'd become very, very cooperative. _Are Andorians even a race? Maybe...._

So now he was scanning the jump trace. It was a trick humans had figured out early on: how to sense most everything. Every human ship had the ability to augment their pilot's latent talent for noticing things. Larissa had explained that it was some psychic ability most Earth creatures possessed. Regardless, the result was he could see where the smugglers had jumped.

A few moments later, he saw the ship in front of him. It was a standard Gemman small cruiser, perfect for smuggling with good support for most alien species. “Here goes nothing.” He attempted to open a com connection. It took a bit before it opened.

Before him was a mixed race crew. He heard one of them, a Jafarian, mutter, “Primate,” while three other members of the crew passed out. He sighed mentally. _Are all aliens deaf? Whatever. I'm more worried about the Jafarian. If I have to board, it'll be in a suit so those annoying pheromones don't drive me mad_ _with lust_ _._

Trying not to think about what would happen if he tried to rape an alien crew, he calmly stated, “This is Captain John Harkness of the Human Sector Ship Wallbreaker. You have cargo that belongs to me. I demand that you turn it over immediately.”

The Jafarian fainted. _Great. Larissa's going to have a cow when she finds out I called her “cargo,” and I've got freaking aliens passing out left and right._

Right before the line went dead, he heard, “Shut down the link! Flarry, get us out of here. NOW!” That was followed by the ship jumping.

“Ah shit.” He grabbed a cup of coffee before settling in to trace the jump. Sipping it, he concentrated on the field before him. “There it is. They must have a Greedan managing these things to jump that fast.”

He slid through the jump and saw... nothing. It didn't take him long to notice the next jump. “Okay, definitely a Greedan.” He sipped his coffee a bit before he got back to work following them.

The third jump was a bit dodgy. He ended up taking extra time to make sure he got it right. “Damned Greedan must be trying to kill itself. Screw up the calculations and you can hit a star, if you're not careful.”

After the third jump, he spotted his target. “That was damned rocky. What the hell do they think they're doing, anyway? Maybe if I pressure them a bit, they'll be more reasonable.”

He hailed their ship again, and the com channel promptly opened. John put a determined expression on his face as he stated, “This is Captain John Harkness. I will not stop following you. I will hunt you out of Human Space if necessary, but you will turn over your cargo.”

The com channel was closed immediately. The Gemman captain seemed agitated, and the Greedan looked tired. Then the ship jumped. Again. _Well this isn't what I was hoping for._

John looked at his coffee mug in annoyance. It was empty. “Time for more coffee. Damned bitch better appreciate what I'm going through for her,” he muttered without malice. He made an extra large cup and proceeded to start following the jump path.

This time, the jumps were relatively easy to trace. The Greedan was clearly tired, going for shorter, rapid jumps, rather than longer ones. He finished his second coffee and decided to switch to a cup of Earl Gray, now that he was feeling awake and was actually rather enjoying himself. It was a pleasant challenge to trace the jumps, not too easy, but not too challenging.

It was after the fifth jump that he found the ship again. Rather than hail it, he just decided to approach. The ship made no effort to avoid him, so he grappled it with the asteroid anchors and went back to get suited up. “I am not going to risk going on a rampage, just because Jafarians secrete those 'fuck me' pheromones. Larissa would kill me if I screwed a Gemman, or worse, a Reptan. The way I hear it, one whiff off a Jafarian and you'll try to screw anything and everything.”

His mining suit wasn't ideal for the purpose, but was adequate. He stomped his way onto the smuggling ship and made his way to the airlock, the magnetic boots deactivating and activating with each step. Once inside the airlock, he activated it and was greeted with the sight of the Gemman captain, a Reptan, and a Gray.

John decided it was best not to let them know what they had, or rather, who. “Greetings. I'm here for your cargo.” He reached forward to shake hands. The Reptan took his hand and John gripped it firmly. The external mikes picked up its sound of agony as he realized he hadn't taken into account the strength augmentation of the suit.

“Shit. That's... messy. Gotta be more careful,” he muttered in Terran, before switching back to Galactic. “Your cargo.”

Instead the Gemman charged him, getting a solid hit on his chest. The things were rock based, and John was tired. He punched back. He felt the sonics kick in on contact, designed to crack space junk. Sure enough, the Gemman fell backwards, its exoskeleton leaking.

John sighed and stepped towards the Gray when he heard the squish from his boots crushing something. _Magnetics in the boots must be stronger than I thought. Gah!_ _I can't be bothered with this nonsense anymore_. “Your cargo,” he demanded.

The Gray had the sense to start leading him down a hallway. John muttered to himself the whole way in Terran. “Damned bitch better be grateful for this. I cannot believe all the trouble that damned, fucking bitch is causing me. And I've got alien blood covering my suit. AND I'm behind schedule, now.”

He grabbed the cryo-unit and was on his way out when the Gray timidly asked, “How did you stalk us for so long?”

“What are you talking about? I was only on my second cup of coffee. I was just starting on a cup of...” He paused, trying to remember how to say Earl Gray in Galactic. _Oh yeah,_ “Gray Nobility.”

The Gray fainted. With a shrug, John hauled Larissa back to his ship and departed. Once he thawed her out, they made love and cuddled while he explained the whole, ridiculous process he'd gone through to get her back again, this time.


	4. Epilogue

“So what was in the cryo-unit, anyway?” the Reptan inquired.

“Based on what I was able to translate from recordings and later research I did,” Theeksis shuddered, “A pregnant hellhound.”

“A what?”

Theeksis trembled, but managed to explain. “He kept talking about it being a female dog that had been mated, one that was associated with their afterlife: hell. I can only assume it was a pregnant hellhound. Given what they do to Jafarians, he might have been the one that impregnated it.”

Theeksis felt the horror overcoming him as he pressed forward. “Regardless, it's some sort of beast they use to keep their dead in line. It was his pet.” Finally, Theeksis looked up at the Reptan with anguish in his eyes. “What sort of creatures need to use fire-breathing beasts to keep their dead contained?”

The Reptan blanched.


End file.
